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By Ray Hickson

Trainer Clint Lundholm concedes it’d be much easier to place speedster Star Of Kings if he was confident he could stretch his brilliance to 1000m.

Trainer Clint Lundholm (Pic: Janian McMillan).

The Dubbo trainer has had to be patient with the five-year-old, waiting for the right race to come along and he believes he’s found it in the shape of the Keirle’s Pharmacy Handicap (900m) at Wellington on Thursday.

All three of the gelding’s wins have come at 900m or below, two of them over the Wellington 900m and the other at Mendooran over 800m, and Lundholm said early on he had hoped as much as 1100m would suit Star Of Kings but his record is suggesting otherwise.

“It just didn’t come about and he just seems to like the shorter distance,’’ Lundholm said.

“If you found the right race over 1000m you might be able to pinch one but he just seems to be a dead set speed horse and he’s quite good at the 900m around Wellington.”

Star Of Kings has been to Wellington three times for a 3-1/2 length maiden win, a half length Class 1 win and his first-up narrow defeat in a Benchmark 66 just over a month ago.

It was his first run since September after pulling up from a Highway failure with an issue.

Lundholm said after he was run down by Gorush Lightning he looked at the calendar and saw Thursday’s race as the best opportunity to keep the horse in his comfort zone so had no hesitation in waiting for it.

“It took a pretty decent horse to knock him off on that day. He did all the hard work and was grabbed late,’’ he said.

“We came up with this race so we thought we’ll keep him fresh, he races well fresh, and to come up with a barrier is perfect.

“You can wait for these races and draw 11 of 11 and everything gets chucked to the wind. He looks well placed.”

Jake Pracey-Holmes is on board Star Of Kings as he was first-up and expects the pair to give a big sight around the tight Wellington sprint course.

“They jump pretty quickly onto the first corner, we’ve got JPH on him again and he only knows handlebars down so this horse really suits him,’’ he said.

Lightly raced mare Flight Or Fight ventured to Brewarrina in search of a first-up win and while she bumped into race fit horse on the day Ludholm says she’s not without a good chance in the Milky Daze Handicap (900m).

The four-year-old opened her spring with two placings over Wellington 900m so Lundholm knows she’s capable if things fall her way.

Star Of Kings runs second at Wellington on April 14

“We took her out to Brewarrina pretty confident she could knock off a win for her owners and she just found one better on the day,’’ he said.

“She was up on speed, they had to work quite hard but she was first-up and she does strip fitter.

“She gets a good barrier and she’s competed very well around Wellington before in TAB grade so she’d be a sneaky chance.”

All the fields, form and replays for Thursday’s Wellington meeting